Parks and Recreation
Episode 9: Ron and
Diane
By: Carlos Uribe
Parks
and Recreation is a show about Pawnee's parks and recreation
department and a town councilwoman named Leslie Knope.
Spoilers
Ahoy!
The
friendship between Ron and Leslie is one of the strongest that this
series has. Leslie doesn't just go to Leslie for advice but the two
genuinely care for each other. Leslie is willing to do almost
anything for her former boss. She's willing to show up to support him
when Ron gets nominated for a woodworking award on a chair that he
had built. When she gets to meet Diane, she decides to hand out her
approval. When Tammy shows up, Leslie is willing to do anything to
ensure that she doesn't get in the way of Diane and Ron. The Leslie
and Ron relationship is one of the strongest this show has and it
forms the core of this episode. This episode doesn't just have Leslie
do anything she can for Ron or Ron express his loyalty to Leslie but
it also creaters some tension between Diane and Leslie. The reason is
because Diane realizes that Leslie is able to have a connection with
Ron that is very unigue. A bond that she hasn't been able to get with
Ron. Diane doesn't see Tammy as the major threat to her relationship
with Ron but Leslie. The only way for the series to properly make
this episode work was to have Tammy come in and start to cause
problems. Diane's concerns about Leslie make an impact because she's
met Tammy and realizes just what exactly Ron's ex-wife is trying to
do. When Diane confronts Leslie, it comes as a surprise even though
the show had been subtly hinting towards that reveal. This meant it
didn't come out of left-field because that's really what this episode
was ultimately about.
The
sub-plot involved Jerry. Diane, Andy, April, and Tom all have a
tradition where they put money in a box everytime Jerry does
something stupid. They take all the money they collect and at the end
of the year, they treat themselves to a feast. It's very mean but the
characters don't really have a problem with it. Jerry doesn't know so
his feelings aren't hurt and they get to treat themselves. It isn't
until Ann finds out about the box and their “Jerry Dinner” that
she tells them that what they're doing is wrong. She also plants the
idea that they should at least invite Jerry to the dinner. When the
four are heading towards the dinner, Donna realizes that Ann was
right. What they are doing is being terrible people. She turns the
car around and they go to Jerry's house in order to invite him.
That's when they find out that Jerry is having a Christmas party.
They believe they weren't invited but Ann, Chris, and Ben all were.
The four try to get into the party but Ann only allows them to come
in when they have all done something nice for Jerry. Donna is
rewarded for her intention to invite Jerry into the party and the
others come in when they give him the money. Jerry is so often the
punchline of so many jokes that the characters make that it's always
nice when the series undercuts this with the constant reveal that
Jerry is really an actually nice man who doesn't deserve it. This
doesn't stop the sub-plot ending with Jerry accidentally getting
locked out of his own home. This is primarily my problem with the
plot: it's all about how the characters are mean to Jerry and yet the
show itself can't help but shut the door on Jerry. It's good for a
cheap laugh but it seems to undermine what the sub-plot was all
about.
Ben
and Chris went to Jerry's party together. The two came into Pawnee as
friends but they have been seperated since then. Ben ended up leaving
his job at city hall, ran the campaign of Leslie Knope, went to
Washington D.C. to run a Congressional campaign, and then got engaged
to Leslie. Chris has been spending his time as city manager and going
to therapy. One has been able to move forward in every way while the
other one is dealing with his emotional issues. The two decide that
they're going to spend the party together and Ben gets to see
first-hand how valuable therapy has been for Chris. Chris is not only
perfectly fine with drinking egg nog with fat but also his decaying
body. He's even able to face an encounter with an ex-girlfriend
without falling apart. This is a nice way to show Chris' development
but it also missed an opportunity to show Ben's development as well.
That would have made the sub-plot a lot stronger as their spending
time together could have revealed how both of them have grown rather
than just one of them.
Ron
and Diane is a funny episode of Parks and Recreation. It hits all the
right notes when it comes to the central friendship between Ron and
Leslie while at the same time providing a great return for Tammy. The
sub-plot with Ann and the other characters would have worked better
if the writers had treated Jerry with the same respect that it was
demanding from it's characters. The Ben and Chris sub-plot would have
worked better if it had been more fleshed out to also show how
different Chris has become. Overall, it was a hilarious episode but
there were simply moments that could have worked out better.
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